Użytkownik:Crusjer/brudnopis/PS/Rozdział 4.2
KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK A trio of ponies stood on the doorstep of the manor, glancing over their shoulders to ensure there were no guard patrols passing on the connecting street. The manor itself was nestled in the company of other similarly grand homes. Every lawn was trimmed, every shrub sculpted, and every flower was in bloom in the part of Canterlot where the elite made their homes. Celebrities, politicians, and anypony else that was widely known and very well paid could be found within those few blocks of the city, living the high life in their stately homes. The stallion of the trio was about to knock again when the locks clicked open. The door swung open as a white unicorn with a perfectly trimmed and slicked back black mane and a monocle poked his head out of the door. He looked over the two pegasi mares and earth pony stallion before giving a small, snooty sniff. “Yes? May I help you?” “Just open the stinking door, Etiquette!” the gray pegasus with a darker gray mane and swirling tornado cutie mark snapped. “Of course, Miss Gale.” The butler, Proper Etiquette, stepped back and opened the manor’s door wider, allowing the trio of ponies to slip inside. The other pegasus was a dark purple mare with a black mane and swirling wind lines for a cutie mark. The sole earth pony was a dull clay-red stallion with a tall build. His blond mane was cut very short and his cutie mark was a stone wall that looked like castle battlements. “Sir Spell Nexus is in his study. I believe you know the way,” Proper Etiquette said as he shut the manor’s front door. Gray Gale fluttered her wings in irritation. “Yeah, yeah, we know the way, but Nexus better have a good reason for calling us like this.” “Indeed,” Night Wind, the purple pegasus, said in agreement. “We are, after all, trying to lie low after that grand failure in the Everfree Forest. The town guard are much more alert and are stopping ponies on the street if they run across them this late at night.” “I do not know why Sir Spell Nexus called for you as he did,” Proper Etiquette remarked as he began to walk away. “But I do believe you will find it difficult to get an answer unless you go and speak with him. Now, I must be off to the kitchen; Sir Spell Nexus does not like to host company without refreshment.” “Seriously, that pony takes his job way too seriously,” Gray Gale mumbled to herself as the three made their way through the manor. After climbing a flight of stairs and passing down a lavishly furnished hallway, they arrived at a door they all knew quite well. Since they had been summoned, they didn’t bother to knock before they entered the manor’s study. It was a cozy little room with very large windows and a fireplace. One wall was lined with bookshelves which were filled to capacity with books, some small knick-knacks, and the occasional framed picture. The windows looked out over the elegant cityscape of Canterlot, a view that the manor’s owner had been complimented on a number of times. Finally, an oil painting rested above the fireplace. The regal portrait depicted a dark blue unicorn with a light gray mane sitting behind a very elegant-looking desk while wearing a gentle smile. Below the portrait, set into the picture’s polished wooden frame, was an engraved plaque. Spell Nexus Headmaster of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns Mystical Advisor to the Royal Court The manor’s owner, Nexus himself, stood in front of the study’s fireplace, its flames reflecting in his turquoise eyes. He did not turn to look at the three ponies who had entered his study, instead motioning with a hoof to some chairs. “Please, have a seat.” “What’s this about, Nexus?” Gale asked as the three ponies sat down. “You never send messengers for us in the middle of the night.” “It is strange, ” Night Wind agreed. “You are the one who is always telling us to keep our movements subtle and hidden, and this is far from being subtle or hidden.” “And not all of us have cushy jobs like you do,” Stonewall grumbled. “The commander is already suspicious of why I was late reporting in after what happened in Everfree. I’m skating on thin ice with the Town Guard.” “Yes, I apologize for the late hour, my sisters and brother, but there has been an… interesting development.” “It better be interesting.” Gray Gale grumbled under her breath before she stifled a yawn. Nexus turned away from the fireplace and began walking towards the three seated ponies. “I assure you it is, for it would seem that our efforts on the night of the last full moon were not wasted.” “How were they ‘not wasted’?!” Gray Gale ranted, waving her hoof in a wide arch. “It was a disaster! Nightmare Moon’s remains were blown to smithereens, and how many of our brothers and sisters got arrested again?” “Approximately three dozen,” Night Wind answered. Gray Gale raised her hoof and slammed it on the ground. “Three dozen, Nexus!” “It is true. Things did not go as planned.” A grin spread onto Nexus’s lips as his eyes gleamed. “But it was all worth it, for Nightmare Moon lives.” There was a dead silence in the room. Stonewall, Night Wind, and Gray Gale glanced at each other, unable to believe what they had heard. Gray Gale broke the graveyard-like silence by shaking her head and asking, “Wait… wait wait wait… Are you saying the spell worked?” “I did not dare to hope so,” Spell Nexus mused before giving his head a nod, “but yes, at least in part.” “And just how do you know that Nightmare Moon lives?” Night Wind asked skeptically. “If that were true, wouldn’t she have overthrown Celestia by now?” “Yes, if our queen was at full strength, Equestria would already be bathed in the glory of a night eternal, and we would have received our just rewards as her loyal servants. Still, I cannot deny what I sensed and saw. Early this evening, a brilliant bolt of magical lighting shot up from the Everfree Forest, and, in that moment, I sensed her. I sensed our queen in all her power and glory. It was like a firework bursting and fading in the night sky, but it was there.” Spell Nexus swept to one side, light on his hooves for a moment. “It was… so magnificent, and it made something inside me shift for a moment. I felt positively giddy, and it took all my willpower to keep myself from racing to the forest to find her.” “Well, it’s nice to hear that we weren’t wasting our time with that spell,” Stonewall remarked, his very flat tone bringing Nexus back to the serious nature of the conversation. “Yes, and now we have purpose once again. Brother, sisters, we must find our queen. I believe her form, like the spell we cast that night, is incomplete. She can be saved, can be given the life she deserves, but we must find her. I believe she is in hiding either amongst the trees of the Everfree Forest or in some area close to that, and we must find her before she can become truly lost to us.” “And just how are we supposed to do that?” Gray Gale asked cynically before she began speaking in a forced, overly perky tone. “Hey boss, I wanted to take some more of my vacation days. Why? Oh, I just want to take a leisurely stroll around one of the most dangerous forests in Equestria while I look for a partially reincarnated Nightmare Moon.” Nexus rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a hoof. “Please spare us your sarcasm, Gray Gale.” “She does make a point, Nexus,” Night Wind said smoothly. “How can we search the Everfree Forest without drawing attention?” “Not all of our brothers and sisters were arrested by the guard after Celestia’s interruption,” Spell Nexus assured his cohorts before turning his attention back to Gray Gale. “In the morning you will find I’ve contracted out your services as a pair of wings for hire to deliver important letters to a number of individuals around Ponyville. Some of these letters are simple letters from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but a few of those letters are notes to our brothers and sisters who call the town home. They, who are closest to the forest, will be able to search for our queen.” “Will I know who is who?” Gale asked. Nexus shook his head. “No, their anonymity must be preserved; it is how we’ve been able to function so long without detection. Only I truly know all those who stand with the Children of Nightmare.” “Which, as I’ve said before, is really creepy,” Gray Gale remarked, only to get elbowed in the side by Night Wind. “And what about us, Nexus?” Stonewall asked. Nexus stepped over to Stonewall and set a hoof on his shoulder. “You must continue your duties with the Town Guard. The information you provide is invaluable to us remaining undetected.” Nexus then turned and looked at Night Wind. “And you, sister, will find yourself assigned to a new post in the morning.” Night Wind arched an eyebrow. “And just where am I being stationed, Nexus?” “I have little doubt that Celestia has sensed the same thing I did this evening, and I believe this will drive her to step up the research team she has working on analyzing our spell. You have now been reassigned to guard this team. Keep tabs on their progress, impede it if you can, and, if Celestia speaks with the team, I want you to tell me exactly what she says.” A treacherous smirk spread onto Night Wind’s lips. “And here I thought you’d finally given me a challenge, Nexus, but eavesdropping?” “Do not take your role lightly, Night Wind, for, if the team makes a dooming discovery about us or the spell, you are the only one who will be able to warn us of the coming danger.” Nexus then looked over his three conspirators and let a smile play upon his lips. “Celestia was able to stop us once, but fate has given us another chance to see our queen rise. I will not see it slip through our hooves. For the Night Eternal.” “For Equestria’s True Queen,” the three other ponies chimed back in practiced harmony. Crusjer dyskutuj! KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK… “Just one moment,” a light-blue unicorn stallion called as he sat up in bed. Bastion Yorsets glanced at the clock, grumbled at the late hour, and then pulled himself out of bed. His eggshell-white mane and tail were a mess, but he continued to move towards his front door all the same. He had no desire to try and make himself presentable for anypony who would come knocking at such an hour. Horn glowing, Bastion opened his front door, intending to chew out whoever thought to disturb him so late at night. Yet, he froze up like a statue when he saw Princess Celestia standing on his doorstep. “Your… Y-your Highness!” Bastion stuttered out. “I do apologize for the late hour, Bastion, but may I come in?” Celestia asked sweetly, as if Bastion had every right to turn her away. “O-f course… Please, make yourself at home. I’ll be with you in a moment,” Bastion said before letting Celestia inside. Bastion Yorsets was a teacher at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and was there when the young Twilight Sparkle revealed her immense aptitude for magic. He was among the senior teaching staff and was the pony Celestia charged with the responsibility of leading the team studying the cult ponies’ spell. Once he had ensured Celestia was comfortable, Bastion disappeared back into his bedroom. He reemerged a few minutes later in a far more presentable state. He had quickly brushed out his mane and tail, and he had also slipped into his normal work attire: a collared shirt, a light brown sweater vest, and a thin black tie to finish the ensemble. “I do apologize for making you wait, Your Highness,” Bastion said when he stepped back into the living room. Celestia glanced up from her seat on Bastion’s couch, which was just large enough to support her larger stature. “Do not apologize, Bastion. I would not normally disturb you at your home or at such a late hour, but I was curious as to how things were going in deciphering the spell.” “It is progressing, but slowly,” Bastion answered as he took a seat in a cushion chair. “The unicorns were making use of several very old forms of magic of which there are few records. The oil-soaked powders they were burning came from zebra magic. We also found records of unicorns using arcane designs to direct the flow of magic, but there are no actual books describing how such magical lines work.” Bastion sighed tiredly and ran a hoof through his mane. “Things would undoubtedly be going better if we were able to get some information from the cultists. Have your guards been able to get any of them to talk?” “No,” Celestia admitted with a shake of her head. “The cultists we’ve arrested are proving to be very strong-willed. The interrogators have not been able to convince any of those ponies to give up any new information.” “Then I am sorry, Princess, but I fear my team is doing the best it can, considering we’re dealing with lost knowledge.” “Well… ‘purposefully hidden’ may be a more accurate turn of phrase,” Celestia mused aloud. “Princess?” Bastion asked as he cocked an eyebrow. “Bastion, I want you to move your team out of the castle’s main library and into the royal archives tomorrow morning. I have already arranged for your team to have full access to anything in there, including the Starswirl wing.” Bastion’s eyes widened. “Princess, the archives guard the most precious literature in Equestria. Tomes of ancient knowledge and stories that haven’t been viewed firsthoof in centuries.” “Yes, but that is the point. The tomes in that collection are the final copies of books and knowledge that I wished to have preserved but not available to all of Equestria. There is very powerful magic in some of those books: spells that, if attempted by ponies who do not fully understand them, could have dire consequences. Some of those books, however, describe the arcane magic the cult’s spell is based upon. They would undoubtedly help your team understand the spell more quickly.” Bastion nodded in understanding as the weight of this new privilege sank in. “We will move to the archives first thing in the morning.” “Good,” Celestia said. A tiny smile tried to form upon her lips, but the seriousness of the situation forced it to wither like a water deprived plant. “There is one other thing, Bastion.” “Yes, Your Highness?” “While I do not want to distract your team from figuring out the spell’s intended purpose, I must ask that you also start investigating what the spell did.” “What it did?” Bastion echoed in confusion. Celestia gave a single nod before she rose from her seat. “Yes, for you see, the cult was already casting the spell when I arrived with the guards. I was able to stop the spell, interrupt it, but now I fear what it was able to accomplish before my arrival.” Bastion stood up from his seat as well and began to follow Celestia as she moved to his front door. “That is a very theoretical branch of magic, Princess. Incomplete spells have been known to do a variety of things, and some never do the same thing twice.” “As I am well aware, but I have faith in you, Bastion. You are the greatest mind in the field of theoretical magic at the school, after all.” Bastion couldn’t help but blush and bow his head. “You flatter me, Princess.” “I make no habit of flattery, Bastion; I only offer the compliments ponies deserve,” Celestia corrected as she opened the front door with a flick of her magic. “Now, I'd best depart. I wouldn’t want to impose any further.” “You are never an imposition, Princess… though, none of this seems terribly pressing. Might I ask why you felt this could not wait until morning?” Celestia paused at the door, having already put one hoof outside, and looked over her shoulder at Bastion. “I have simply realized that I have not been providing your team with the materials it needs to analyze this spell quickly, and… I have also come to realize this evening that swiftness in this matter is of the utmost importance.”